Seal



J. P. KUEBLER.

SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20. 1919.

1,372,?Q3 Patented Mar. 29, 1921.

JOHN PAUL KUEBLER, O35 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921.

Application filed October 20, 1919. Serial No. 331,755.

To all wit-cm it may concern:

Be it known that l, ilonN PAUL Kunennn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful ln'iprovements in Seals, of which the vfollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to seals such as are count; 1y used for sealing freight cars but which are also adapted for sealing anything which is intended to be kept or delivered in a. predetermined condition, as for instance, pouches of mail or the like or the looks or parts on automobiles or other vehicles.

It is particularly directed to seals or the character which maybe applied without the use oi any instruments but which can not be readily removed without destroying the same.

The objects or this invention are to provide a seal which may be easily and cheaply made; to provide a seal which can not be easily tampered with withoutdestroying the same; to provide a seal which may be quickly applied and will be permanently locked; to provide a seal which will make a sound when looking to indicate that the same is locked; and in general, to provide such an improved device as will be described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved seal;

Fig. 2 is a ing the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the locking end;

Fi l

detail of the blank for vtorms a longitudinal sectional view of the locking end; and,

Fig. 5 is a cross section 5-5 of Fig. 41.

While the seal may be made in any desired size, it will usually be made considerably smaller than illustrated in these drawings; for ordinary use, the band portion may c0nveniently be made from one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch in width.

As illustrated in these drawings, the seal comprises a band or loop portion 6 and a locking portion 7. The complete seal is preferably made of a singlestrip of metal which is blanked out as shown in Fig. 2. This blank comprises a strip or band 8 01 any suitable length for forming the loop.

taken on the line The sides of this strip are cut away at 9 adjacent to one end to form a head or looking portion 10. At the opposite end of the strip is a widened portion 11 which is connected by a short connection with a similar widened portion 13. A projection 14 extends beyond the widened portion 13. This projection is provided with a short slot 15 and the end is cut away to form locking tongues 16. T he blank is provided with central longitudinal corrugations or ridges 17 and 18.

The seal is formed from this blank by bending back the ends of the locking tongues 1.6 to form hooks 19 as readily seen in Fig. i. The projection 14 is then bent back against the face of the plate 13 so that the ends of the hooks will lie against the plate as also shown in Figs. 3 and a. The )late or widened portion 13 is then bent back over the plate or widened portion 11 and the edges are secured together so as to hold them permanently in such position. These edges may be conveniently locked by bending the edges of the plate 13 downwardly and outwardly as shown in Fig. 5 to form longitudinal flanges 20. The edges of the plate 11 are then bent up and over these flanges as shown at 21 to form locking seams whereby the parts will be securely held. These seams may then be crimped as shown at 22 so that the parts can not be separated without substantially insuring the destruction of the locking portion. If desired, these parts may be soldered or riveted together or fastened in any other well-known manner. When the parts have been unites in this manner, it will be seen that the ridge or corrugation 17 overlies the corresponding ridge or corrugation 18, thereby forming a transversely curved passage-way or slot between them. The end of the strip 8 is pro vidcd with a corresponding corrugation 23 so that this end will it in the slot between the plates 11 and 13.

' "When the device has been constructed in this manner, it is ready to be applied to the car or device to be sealed. The loop 6 is passed through the staple or other part to be sealed, and the end 10 is inserted in the slot 24 in the locking portion 7. The head 10 passes under the hooks 19 and when these hooks spring back to normal position a clicking sound is made. After the head 10 passes the hooks, it is drawn backwardly or outwardly until it passes over the ends of the hooks, when anothervclicking sound is made, thereby indicating that the seal is locked. When the head passes back over the hooks, it will be securely locked'in position and the seal can not be removed without being more or less injured or destroyed. If it is attempted to push the head back into the locking end, it will be caught by the hooks as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. If it is attempted to pull the end 10 out of the locking portion, the shoulders on the head will engage with the shoulders on the looking tongues so that the head can not be with drawn. II" it is attempted to force the looking end 10 out by pulling against these shoulders, the locking finger 1.6 will tend to swing in so as to more firmly lock the parts together. The longitudinal corrugations in the locking members not only serve to stiffen or strengthen the same, but also assis in preventing tampering with the seal as they make it difiicult, it not impossible to insert any instrument into the locking portion for the purpose of unlocking theseal. The corrugation 23 in the end of the strip 8 also tends to prevent the filing or cutting off of this end and insertion of the loose end into the lock to simulate a properly fastened the seals now in use.

From this description of a preferred form of my invention, it will be seen that 1 provide a seal having the objects above set forth and which may be readily constructed from any suitable metal or material. it is of course, the intention that these seals will be broken when they are removed from the car or other sealed device and'ior this reason it is highly advantageous to have them constructed so that they be cheaply made. Having thus described my invention, what i into said seal, as may be done with some of I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A seal comprising a metallic strip having widened portions folded together with their edges interlocked to form longitudinal side seams, said folded portions forming a locking recess, a projection on the end of one of said folded portions which is bent back recess, said projection being cut away to form shouldered locking fingers, the ends of said fingers being bent back to provide hooks which fit closely between the walls of the recess, the opposite end of said strip having a relatively narrow tongue portion with a widened head in alin'ement with the strip adapted to be inserted in said recess, said folded portions and the end of the strip being provided with longitudinal corrugations adapted to be oppositely disposed when the parts are assembled, the arrangement being such that when looking head is inserted in the recess, a sound will be produced as the head passes the ends of the fingers and another sound will be produced as the head is drawn back over the ends of the hooks, thereby indicating that the head is in locked position.

2. A car seal comprisinga strip having a flat T-shaped head at one end with a central corrugation, and having a locking chamber at the opposite end, said chamber having longitudinal corrugations adapted to register with the corrugation'in the head, said chamber having locking fingers arranged on either side of the corrugations and having hooks at the ends thereof, the arrangement being such that the T-shaped head may be inserted the hooks to locking position.

JOHN PAUL KUEB'LER. 

